Jack brought up the two pre-American period Confente bikes that were displayed at VR7, when he stated:
"BTW now that we have found out that Mario built a few Confente's in Italy (thanks to John Waner ) they must be really EXPENSIVE!"
This brings up a dilemma regarding the definition of Confente bikes. Up until now, a total production number of 135 "confente-decalled" frames has been bandied about as being relevant, mainly by those who had a stake in keeping values up. Is this really important? If so, do these two pre-California bikes change the value of the other 135? Are the two Confente bikes built in Italy prior to Mario's expatriation to California to be viewed as different from those produced in the US? Are they perhaps only the tip of the iceberg of Italian Confente-decalled bikes, could there perhaps be hundreds more? Should they be considered more or less important than those produced in California? What then differentiates a Confente-built Confente from a Confente-built Masi?Inquiring minds want to know.
My personal opinion is that the Italian ones should be considered highly relevant in showing the personal growth of Mario as a builder and that a certain amount of the cachet of the California frames is likely lost.
Steven Maasland
Moorestown, NJ
USA